'Students should always come first': IUSG Chief of Staff running for president

Juniors Isabel Mishkin and Matt Stein have teamed up to run for IU student body president and vice president. Their campaign team is called Vision.
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Isabel Mishkin was born in Chicago. The city, not the suburbs.

Matt Stein loves swimming and is a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi.

The two juniors have teamed up to run for IU student body president and vice president. Mishkin is the current chief of staff for IU Student Government, and Stein is the chief of Diversity and Inclusion.

Their campaign team, Vision, is the intersection between student values and expertise, Mishkin said.

“It comes from our desire to incorporate students all across campus into every aspect of decision-making that they would like to be a part of,” Stein said. “We represent that in our policy platform.”

This is shown in their Equity and Inclusion Policy which includes an initiative for a Middle and Near Eastern Culture Center and a Wells Library International Flag Display, he said.

“When students are coming in to come in and work and better themselves through their education, they can be reminded that this is their home,” Stein said. “No matter where you come from, you’re accepted here.”

The second half of the team’s campaign is about bringing expertise to the table.

Part of this policy includes the implementation of a monthly IUSG town hall.

The team’s policies focus on a desire to understand the wants and needs of students, she said.

The campaign started formally after Halloween, Mishkin said.

“We hit the ground running,” Stein said. “The second we got back to campus in January, we immediately started reaching out to leaders we thought would advocate for students and we reached out to different interest groups asking what can Vision do on behalf of you to make this a more equitable and inclusive place for every single person who is here.’”

The campaign is focused on working for students, Stein said.

“I get things done,” Mishkin said. “I believe in not allowing time and space to corrupt a vision for what we have for how to improve life for students.”

The pair believes they can work together to advocate and empower students, Mishkin said.

“Matt is one of the most caring and driven people I have met in my life,” Mishkin said. “He is relentlessly in love with this university and is the kind of caring human being that this organization needs and that I think the students need,” she said.

Vision’s desire to lead stems from a love of the school and its students, she said.

“I believe that I have the experience, the knowledge, the skillset and the demeanor to effectively relay the student concern to administrators,” Mishkin said.

She said she wants to be student body president first and foremost for the students.

“I want to be student body president because I think students should always come first,” she said. “I know students should always come first.”